Review: ‘Horton’ maintains Dr. Seuss book’s charm

Directed By: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino

Starring: (The voices of) Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Isla Fisher, Amy Poehler, Jaime Pressly, Charles Osgood

Rated: G

In recent years, two Dr. Seuss books have been made into big-screen films.

I didn’t care for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

“The Cat in the Hat” was simply dreadful.

This time around, with Seuss’ widow Audrey Geisel acting as executive producer, Seuss material has finally been brought to the screen maintaining much of the charm, wit and whimsy of the original work, in “Horton Hears a Who.”

Producing the film as an animated feature seems like a no-brainer. Granted, the computer-generated images that are state-of-today are more complex than Seuss’ simple drawings. That could have been a negative.

Instead, Fox’s Blue Light Studios has managed to maintain the overall feel of the original art while making the film fit in comfortably with 21st century animated features.

Anyone born from the baby boom forward likely knows the storyline that drives “Horton Hears a Who.”

Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) is a happy, good-natured, idealistic elephant, whiling away his days educating the animal children in his jungle habitat. One day, he notices a speck floating by and, thanks to his huge ears, he hears something emitting from the speck.

After some investigation, Horton discovers there’s a whole other world called Whoville on the speck.

Seuss’ gentle political play is evident in both the jungle and Whoville.

In Whoville, everything is grand and happy. It’s always been grand and happy, and the political leaders refuse to believe it will ever be any other way.

In the jungle, Horton is under the constant watch of the kangaroo (voiced by Carol Burnett) who thinks he’s a little too offbeat for the good of the community. She’s horrified by the fact he’s teaching the children to use their imaginations. What’s next?

When Horton hears the sound of Whoville, he makes contact with the mayor, the only realistic member of the governing body. The mayor (voiced by Steve Carell) is the only Who who will admit that care must be taken because something, someday, might possibly go wrong.

While the mayor has got his worries, back in the jungle, Ms. Kangaroo is rabble rousing to make Horton out to be some sort of pacadermus hereticus (loosely translated as “heretical elephant”).

Horton is one of the sweetest heretics to grace the screen in the past 15 years.

As you might imagine, the film has been expanded in plot from the rather sparse book upon which it is based. But writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio stay true to the form. All of the book’s narration is intact, voiced over by Charles Osgood. He has a soothing but not sappy voice made for reading children’s stories.

“Horton,” like all contemporary animated features, aims for the kids but also has enough to keep adults involved throughout.

Really, though, since most adults today grew up with Seuss, not much augmentation is needed to hold our attention.

While I’m still waiting for the definitive film version of the 1947 Seuss work, “Bartholomew and the Oobleck,” “Horton Hears a Who” is a sweet film, the best – by a long shot – of the three Seuss works that have been brought to the big screen.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.